What is the best way of going on a pilgrimage?

Yuvati Didi is asking, she said that now Gaura-purnima times is coming and so many pilgrims are going and some like to go with group and there is a big group, the devotees all over the world come and they like to go with this big (?) and some like, they think that it’s better to go when it’s quiet and peaceful and they just go on some quiet program. Why is this difference is there and what is better and what is not so good and different Gurus being in Holy Dham?

Goswami Maharaj: Jai, well, here is a qualified person to speak about taking a large group. [laughs]. So, we can say this, that we like to reference Srila Guru Maharaj. It reminds me when someone asked him about chanting Mahamantra and I’ll just say that first. Jai Srila Bhakti Bimal Avadhut Maharaj ki jai! Because you’ll read in different places in the Scipture, what was that? Like manajapa, japa-manasik, I forget the different word, but you’ll read, in other words it will say, talk about kirttan, loudly utkirttana, laud kirttan, or japa, softly taking the Holy Name, or taking the Holy Name in the aspirated form, or manasik, mentally, we can find different discriptions in different places and sometimes we get the impression, “Oh, is one being favoured over the other.” And so one devotee asked Srila Guru Maharaj, “So, which is the best way of these? Should be outloud or japa, softly, or in the mind?” Looking for some tips, point that this will be the best way that you will chant. And Guru Maharaj responded by saying. He quoted from the Ajamil chapter of Srimad Bhagavatam, where the expression is given, vaikuntha nama grahanam, it must have vaijuntha, in this context means spiritual, that’s Guru Maharaja’s first consideration, “What is the spirit with which this is being done?” then we get into the details of the what form it might take. And that could be many. But what is the spirit with which something is being approached? And that is always Srila Guru Maharaja’s emphasis and this is a theme that we find, a thread, a theme, that connects so many different concepts that he is presenting, because spiritual, whether or not (?) spiritual means the quality, he is pointing, “What is the quality? What is the internal aspect of what is being done.” That will always be all important.

So, Rupa Goswami (?), ataksi krsna namadi nabavye graham indrye sevan mukhe hija manusya mire sphurtya da, that sevan mukhata, that if something is done in the spirit of service, then it has some spiritual color, some spiritual quality, spiritual characteristics, and one will derive the maximum benefit from that. So, whether alone or with many, that will be secondary to the quality, qualitative aspect. Is that a spiritual transaction? Why am I there? Is there some spiritual sanction in the background? Like interestingly, we know Jagadananda Pandit asked for permission to go to Vrndavan and he’s told by Mahaprabhu, “You can go, but don’t mix with the local people there, and always stay under the care and guidance of Sanatan Goswami.” So, we could say, “But I thought everyone there is the devotee, don’t be one…(?) and get their association, take a dust from them.” And Mahaprabhu said, “Don’t mix with them.” And not to say, that there is anything wrong there, but we could say the dham-basis, of that time, they’re kind of directly reporting to the Lord and His devotee, you know like, their habits, behavior, are not to be imitated. Even then Mahaprabhu, and you can imagine five hundred years later, even then Mahaprabhu is telling Jagadananda Pandit, the author of Prema-vivart, not to mix with the local people. So, stay under the care of Sanatan Goswami, that kind of thing.

When Gadadnar Pandit asked Mahaprabhu for permission to go to Vrndavan, it was denied, permission denied. This is inconceivable, who is Gadadhara Pandit? Told after Radha-bhava-dyuti-subalita, aparan kasyapi pranayi jana vrnda sukha tuki rasotsama hrdva madhuram upabhoktam kamapiya, Mahaprabhu’s stolen the heart and halo of Radharani, the reminder is Gadadhar, therefore absent the bhav or that sweet contrariness possessed of Radharani, that enhances Krsna’s happiness, She is being compared to Rukmini, the more dasail and agreeable. But so, if we express this, what is going on here, we would say, the Queen of Vrndavan is being denied entrance.

So, what does it mean to go to the dham? Here, the queen of Vrndavan is being told not to go. That we can learn a lot from also. The queen of Vrndavan is told not to enter. But Guru Maharaj explained why. It qbviously cannot be in terms of lack of qualifications. But something is lacking, but it’s very mysterious. Guru Maharaj is saying, absent Her heart, radha-bhav, what type of experience will be that for Srimati Radharani as Gadadhar Pandit? She is in a sense being protected from the painfulness of the depth of anguish of separation, that could arise in there. So, Mahaprabhu forbidding, but interestingly when Mahaprabhu himself he is travelling, we know after he takes sannyas, he’s surrounded by so many followers, people are hearing from the moment of his sannyas, we know in Guru Maharaja’s Prema-dhama-deva stotram, that one is there about lakha-lakha koti, how many millions of people come and they see the beautiful locks of Nimai Pandit being shorn, he takes the position of Sri Krsna Chaitanya, he says, “Tears were falling from the eyes of millions, they are all looking the beautiful Lord, beautiful golden Lord, koti-kami murchi tangri rupa rasa rangaranam.” The only we can understand a little bit, if we think in modern context, if they took some super beautiful supermodel, with beautiful hear, and then shaved her head, people would go, “Uh.” It would make them uncomfortable. They would, “Oh, such a beautiful and they’re shaving her.” So, we have a hint. But we’re thinking here, when koti kami murchitangri, what is the beauty of Mahaprabhu? Ten million Cupids will faint to see.

As we’re told Krsna, kandarpa koti kamaniya vrisesu sobham, ten million Cupids personified as one, is this seductive charm and beauty of Krsna. But here koti kami murchi tangri rupa rasa rangaram, ten million Cupis will faint to see the beauty of Mahaprabhu. He is so beautiful and they’re crying, and then he begins endless nam-sankirttan, and he’s singing and dancing and exhibiting ecstatic symptoms and the people are following him. And at one point we hear, how many people? Hundred thousand people are following and the local muslim governer says, “And they are not being paid?” He can’t imagine, we know like in American political season presidential, you can pay, may be not directly, but they arrange for these huge events where so many people, it’s basically funded indirectly. There is some payment involved. But here, so, the government said, “And no one’s being paid?” And there is a hundred thousand people following this mystic personality and he’s madly taking Krsna-nam and sometimes falling to the ground in ecstasy, and all the people they are digging up the ground where he walks and taking the feet dust from his lotus feet on their heads and little pools of khir are forming, because the tears are shooting out of his eyes like streams of Ganga, so he can understand, this is extraordinary. He asked Rupa Goswami, “Who is it? Who is this person?” And Rupa Goswami says to him, “Why don’t you ask yourself? Deep in your heart, what you understand about God, divinity, in your heart of hearts, beyond your political identity, your social identity, your gender, your race, your (?), beyond all of that, dive deep into yourself and answer this question.” He (?) good adviser, his adviser is Rupa Goswami, that’s inconceivable, Sanatan and Rupa advisers. So, he cannot be some ordinary person either. And he says, he’s moved by the instructions of Rupa, “I think of what I’ve understood from the Koran about God, divinity, I think it’s the Lord Himself has come.” He could understand that, he could sense that, that means he’s highly evolved in his sukrti, otherwise how could he play that part in the pastimes of Mahaprabhu?

While some other devotees were trying to say, “It’s not as big as it sounds it’s like a lot of hype, and it’s not that many people actually,” cause they’re afraid that they are going to arrest Mahaprabhu or create some disturbance. So, different devotees responding in different ways. But the reason I mention this, is when Mahaprabhu comes in connection with Sanantan Goswami said, “Actually this isn’t the best way to on pilgrimage with a hundred thousand people.” [laughs] So, I mean, it’ll break everyone’ss heart if you separate from the group, but somehow we need to engeneer that, because really you should go by yourself with an attendant and maybe a Brahmin. So, that’s also there, there’s that type of pilgrimage and parikrama and visiting the Holy places, this Navadwip dham Mahatmya that we’re celebrating it’s become a tradition, traditional celebration. We’re told who was the first? Was Nityananda Prabhu and Jiva Goswami. So, t he two on them ,they went. Then Guru Maharaj said, “The second one was Naotttam Thakur and Srinivas Acharja, so then they kept up the tradition.” And the two are going. But then maybe sometimes small group of devotees are going. But if someone would ask, “Well, if Sanatan Goswami sdvise Mahaprabhu, ‘Best is to go by yourself with a few, why are we doing hunderds and thousands?’” And we would have to say, for the glory of Navadwip dham, for the glory of Mahaprabhu to bering he attention of the world to the lotus feet of Mahaprabhu. So, there ten thousands people.

It’s like what do we hear in parallel, how many people, what do they call it? Hajj? When they go to Mekka every year. Isn’t it what it’s call. Hajj. And like million or more people, go to Mecca. So, here Srila Saraswati Thkur he introduced a Navadwip dham Parikrama with large groups for the glory of Navadwip dham, to spread the glory of Naavadwip dham, the glory of Maharpabhu. Prabodhananda Saraswati tahkur has one nice sloka that Srila Prabhupad used to like to quote, dante nidaya trnakambanior napatya krbdva chakambha aham  itat satam vrnimi hei sadhava sakalam eva vihaya durat chaitanya chandra charane kurutam raga, where it says, he is appealing to a very, to a men, we’re told, amamnina manadena, show respect and honor, so he’s saying, “My dear Sir, you’re do learned, so respectable, so qualified, in so many different ways. And under basis of that I know that you’ll grant the request of someone who is fallen and unqualified as I am. So, with the straw between my teeth I’ve just one request that I ask of you, what is that? Forget everything you know, forget everything. This is my request, you forget everything and turn you attention to the lotus feet of Gauranga Mahaprabhu. That is my request.” It’s very sweet and how can you be sweet and demanding at the same time. He is giving full honor, and very sweet, very humble, and what is his humble request? You forget everything you know and turn your attention to the lotus feet of Mahaprabhu. And we’re told and elsewhere in his Chaitanya Chandramrtam, in another famous sloka that as the word spread about Mahaprabhu and people heard and they responded, their hearts responded on different levels. So, our friend he is always carefully listening, that and saying, “The jnanis, yogis, all the different aspects of Vedic society and how they are represented, they all stopped everthing. Everything went into like suspended animation for a while, and they all became enamored with the lotus feet of Mahaprbhu. Mahaprabhu, Guru Maharaj liked to quote, mahaprabhu gauranga sundara nagara bara nityam nijer nama bi, he’s taking his own name, and it’s making him ecstatic and in his ecstasy, Siddhanti Maharaj like this part a lot from the Prema dhama stotram, he never forgot it, our Guru Maharaja’s conception went deep in his heart. Where it said, “The cause is the effect.”

So, what is the effect? Ecstatic dancing in the singing Hare Krsna Mahamantra. And that causes ecstatic singing of the Hre Krsna Mahamantra. So, he’s tasting his own name as Guru Maharaj said, “Sweetness.” Everyone’s mad after sweetness, and sweetness being aware of that, “I wanna see. What’s (?),” everyone is so mad for sweetness, to taste sweetness. So, (?) sweetness itself is tasting itself and becoming ecstatic madly dancing and singing his own name and thereby distributing that to others. And Srila guru Maharaj tod us, ”As inaccessible as the rasa-lila is like we hear, Vrndavan is for the highest section of the liberated souls and then the rasa-lila, when Laksmi Devi cannot enter there, she doesn’t have an adhikar, the goddess of fortune cannot buy a ticket with all of her wealth she cannot buy a ticket, buy entrance into the rasa-lila. Yadvansana sri lalana charatapo bihaya kamam suchitam vrtam vrata, the wives of Kaliya knew this, how did they know that? They knew it. Mahaprabhu quoted them to Venkata Bhatta, I’ll quote the wives of Kaliya, hear what they say.

So, she cannot enter, but Guru Maharaj said, “Through the sankirttan of Mahaprabhu, what’s ostensibly the singing and dancing of Hare Krsna Mahamantra nam-sankirttan, he said, “So many souls are being given entrance into the rasa-lila.” Yata yata gaura padaravinde vinde tabahaktim krta punya rasi tata tatotsa pati hrdya kasma radha padambhoja sudam bhurasi, the entrance to Vrndavan is in Navadwip, the entrance into Krsna-lila is through Gaura-lila, by concentrating one’s service at the lotus feet of Guru and Gauranga, one finds unconsciously deep within their heart, what did Guru Maharaj say, the radha-rasa suddha niddhi, has reason, (?) from the core (?) when one finds oneself in the soil of Vrndavan. Radha padmam kitatam vrndavan jaranam, so the purpose, when we do these big events, it’s a joyful celebration, but it’s also to bring the attention of others, and thereby it becomes a method of distribution. Sometimes Guru Maharaj has compared it to like a political campaign or parade, so, you know, if there is a parade. Like if there was a parade right now down to the street of people with banners, singing and dancing, we’d get up and go to the window. We’d go outside and everybody wants to watch the parade. And then some people would join in the parade, but when you join in this parade when you come out the other side, you’re in Vaikuntha, even an animal can get that result, what to speak of a human being.

As when one dog in Svarup Ganj in Surubi Kunj, we were at Bhaktivinod Thakur’s places, a dog joined our party, when as the party went the dog would go, and wherever we’d, the dog would sit. People are giving lectures, there’s kirttan, when we get up, the dog gets up, we go to the next place, dog sit, there is lecture, kirttan, dancing, gets up, he went everywhere. And in the end he joined Tirtha Maharaja’s party, which is always the last party to come back to the Math, and when all the devotees came singing and dancing through the front gate, there was that dog. So, honoring him, ecause the vasinavas, krpam buddhir yat para dukha dukhi, they’re always merciful to others and they can recognize good qualities, even in the dog, there is a place for a dogs eat what’s thrown away, the refuse. But what they did for this dog, is they gave him his own leaf plate with prasadam on it. And that dog sat taking Prasad. Cause he joined the parade, the maha-ssankirttan parade of Mahaprabhu. The Navadwip dham parikrama. So, if we’re fortunate, we’ll be able to do both, sometimes we’ll be in the parade in Navadwip dham parikrama, and other times maybe with the few, we’ll go at a more measured (?) and maybe, we’re fortunate to be in personally and in small group and in a large group. It’s all good. If the quality is there, if it’s spiritual transaction, means the sanction of the Lord and His devotees on the background.